Page 21 of The Sexy Billionaire

“Allegra is the one that needs therapy.”

Can’t argue with that.

“You sure she’s not adopted or was swapped at the hospital? Did Mamma have an affair with a psychopath? It would explain her.”

This makes me laugh.

It’s not long until we are driving into my underground car park and heading up to my penthouse. Home sweet home, my sanctuary, my serenity, my happy place. I can pause the noise of the outside world, and no one can bother me when I’m in here.

“Hey, can I borrow a T-shirt or something? I need to get out of this dress,” Natalia asks.

“Sure, let me grab one,” I tell her as I head down the corridor to my bedroom. Pushing the door open, I throw my suit jacket onto the bed, then pull my tie off and it lands next to it. I kick off my shoes and take off my belt as I head into my wardrobe. I grab a T-shirt for myself and a pair of sweatpants and get changed and then grab a shirt for my sister before heading back out to the living area.

“Here, you need this,” she states, handing me a shot glass. I take it and throw it back, letting the tequila ease my soul. I hand her the shirt and she rushes off to get changed. I walk into my kitchen and start to rummage in my freezer for any pints of ice cream in there. Picking up a vanilla chocolate chip one for Natalia and a tiramisu flavor for me, I grab two spoons and head back to the sofa and take a seat.

“Thanks for this, I can breathe now.” My sister sighs, walking back into the living room with my T-shirt on, but it’s more like a dress on her. “Oh, you did have ice cream,” she squeals, rushing over and grabbing her pint from my hand.

“What do we do now?” I ask, taking a spoonful of ice cream.

“We usually bitch about the boy who broke our heart. My girlies tell me he was no good for me, that I can do better. Then we down a bottle of wine and talk shit about the boy. Oh, then we usually plot revenge,” she informs me.

“I think I have wine,” I tell her with a smile as I get up and walk over to my wine fridge and grab a rosé.

“Screw the glasses we drink from the bottle,” she yells from the living room. I stiffen. What, no glasses? She wants to drink straight from the bottle. “I can see that sentence is freaking you out, Gio. Trust the process.”

Fine. I can do this.Trust the process. I turn and take a large swig from the bottle.

“Hell, yeah, that’s how you do it,” Natalia squeals.

I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. Very liberating. I walk back into the living room and retake my seat beside her. She reaches out, takes the bottle from me, and has a drink.

“How did I not see it?” I ask as I dig into my ice cream again.

Natalia contemplates her answer. “None of us saw this happening, Gio. Honestly, Allegra and Giada looked like friends; whenever I saw them together, there was nothing that appeared inappropriate. I’m not sure if that is better or worse.”

They are both good liars.

“You and Giada did live separate lives. It’s not an excuse, but maybe it was easier for them to go undetected.”

Probably. And here I thought it was great that Giada was so independent; the joke’s on me.

“Maybe the universe is telling me that I should never get married,” I say, scooping more ice cream into my mouth. Gosh, this is so good.

“Don’t you dare say that. You just haven’t found the right woman yet,” Natalia protests.

“I’m okay with playing the fun uncle role,” I tell her.

She takes another swig of rosé before handing it back to me, and I do the same. “Never thought I would see you give up.”

I raise a brow at her. I’m not giving up. I just know my strengths and obviously, it’s not being in a relationship. Most of the women I have been with have cheated on me; that saysas much about me as it does them. I don’t give them what they need, so they have to go somewhere else to find it.

Except Paige Johnson.

Huh.

I haven’t thought about her since …. Who am I kidding? I haven’t stopped thinking about her since her great-aunt’s funeral. It was good seeing her again after all these years. She’s still as beautiful as she always was with her cocoa-brown waves, chocolate eyes, curves still in all the right places, and a smile that could light up the darkest of rooms. Not going to lie, seeing her there by herself in the darkness looking so despondent over losing Lucia, all I wanted to do was wrap her in my arms and protect her from the pain. It felt nice when she recognized me and the first thing she did was walk right into my arms, when she buried her face against my chest it felt like it always did with her—right. We were kids when we met. Every summer, Paige and her brother, Smith, would stay with Lucia, and my parents would send us to the vineyard to learn the work. I think I was ten, and she was nine when we first met, and instantly, Luca and I hit it off with them. We had a blast spending the summer holidays running through fields, swimming in the dams, and sneaking grapes off the vines. It was idyllic and after that first summer, Luca and I wanted to go back and sure enough, they were there again. From then on, I’d look forward to seeing them both every year.

It wasn’t until I was sixteen and she was fifteen that things changed. Smith and Luca had discovered local girls and were hanging out with them. We were invited to a party in a field by the locals; we were drinking, smoking, and doing things that teens do. Paige was sitting by the campfire; the light must have hit her at the right angle and my heart wentthudin my chest and my dick tightened in my pants.

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